Method of inserting and removing information elements in ordered information element arrays

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides solutions to the potential undesirable effects the insertion and removal of information elements and documents may have on arrays and axes of information elements using a collation function to determine the position of information elements thereon. The invention can be effectuated as a method, a device and an apparatus carrying out the method described herein.

CROSS-REFERENCES

The present invention relates to and claims priority from U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/538,879, filed Sep. 25, 2011,entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DISPLAYING INFORMATION ELEMENT AXES,which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to computer systems adapted to insertinformation elements in information element axes. The present inventionmore specifically relates to methods and apparatuses for reducing andpreventing confusion when information elements are inserted in displayedarray of information elements.

2. Description of the Related Art

Axes of documents present documents thereon in a predetermined fashion.They are displayed on the axis in a collated manner; that is, they aresorted on an axis in a specific order, often chronological. Moreover,documents displayed on these axes share one or more attributes. Theattribute is a certain descriptive element ascribed to a document by auser.

A document can have one or more attributes. For example, one's picturetaken on a vacation trip to Mexico can have the following attributes:“Mexico 2012 trip,” “Mary and the dog on the beach,” and “June 2012cocktail party.” The picture, therefore, was taken during someone's tripto Mexico, which took place sometimes in June of 2012. Moreover, thispicture is one where Mary, the protagonist of the picture, is with herdog on the beach.

The number of documents displayed on an axis varies. The length of theaxes upon which these documents are displayed fluctuates as well independence of the number of documents they contain. Given their natureand purpose to graphically display the documents of which they arecomposed, axes' actual lengths differ in dependence of the number ofdocuments they have. Some axes might have as little as one document,while others might contain more.

Axes are visible on a display area, for example, a computer screen. Thedisplay area can reveal more than one axis at a time. Some axis, with asmall number of documents, can be fully displayed on the display area,as their lengths are relatively short and can easily fit within theframe of the display area. Others, however, which have a relatively highnumber of documents, cannot be fully shown on the display area and,therefore, are partially visible on a display area. The viewer,consequently, can access the non-displayed documents of the axes byscrolling to the right or to the left of the display area in dependenceof the location of the document(s) searched.

Changes made to documents in an axis can drastically change the locationof the documents on the respective axis. For example, if a certain axiscontains “10” documents, and if “20” more of such similar documents areadded to the respective axis within a small time frame (a few seconds),the initial “10” documents which were present on the axis can either bedislocated to the right or the left sides of the axis so that the other“20” documents can now be aligned on the axis. The axis becomes largeras a result of this very addition of documents.

Similarly, documents can also be removed from a certain axis. If theinitial number of documents on an axis were “30” and if “20” documentswere simultaneously removed from the axis, the remaining “10” documentswould be subject to an automatic movement towards the center of theaxis.

Documents are added on an axis when they receive one attribute thatdefines the rest of the documents on that respective axis. Documents areremoved or, consequently, deleted from an axis when they are no longerdefined by the attribute that once linked them to that respective axis.

The addition and the removal of documents on an axis are lesssignificant to the viewer when the specific axis is not visible on thedisplay area. Stating differently, if someone were to look at an axiscontaining five documents sharing the common attribute “higher educationin Canada” (the five documents being all displayed on the display area),s/he would not notice any changes on the visual display if “20” otherdocuments were simultaneously being added to two other axes nonvisibleon the display area. This scenario, however, would not apply if the same“20” documents were being added to the axis with the five documents on“higher education in Canada”. The viewer would notice the graphicalenlargement of the axis displayed on the screen as a result of thisaddition. Moreover, the initial five documents on the axis would beconsequently displaced either to the right or left of the axis toprovide the necessary space for the new documents' addition.

Changes in the number of documents present on an axis are, therefore,more significant to the viewer when the axis is visible on the displayarea. By significant, one refers to the effects these changes can haveon the viewer(s). Document displacements on the display area can lead tovarious undesirable consequences to the viewer, such as loss of focus ona document(s); occurrence of at least one unintended error in theviewing, modification and/or management of a document(s); possibledisorientation, perplexity and/or puzzlement of the viewer caused by thechange in the layout of document(s); and unforeseen and unintendeddissatisfaction and frustration of the viewer. These are mere examples,and do not embody the total number of possible outcomes that might ariseas a result of document displacements and/or axes dislocations on thedisplay area.

Documents dislocations on axes may cause the axes to displace. Stateddifferently, axes to which documents were inserted and/or removed maymove themselves to the right or to the left of the display area in orderto adjust to the updated number of documents they contain. Thisphenomenon, also, can cause unwanted consequences on the viewer, some ofwhich were listed above.

A user can manage one's own documents. In other words, one can addand/or remove documents from an axis. This axis may or not be visible onthe display area. Its visibility on the display area is caused by theuser's exploration of one or more of its documents on the display area.

Moreover, a user can manage attributes associated with these respectivedocuments. When the managing of attributes by the user does occur,significant changes in the way documents are sorted, and, therefore,listed on an axis can occur. Documents on an axis may be dislocated tothe right or to the left of the axis.

Needless to say, there is a positive correlation between the number ofdocuments added and/or removed on a certain axis and the potentialundesirable impact these changes have on the user. The greater is thenumber of documents that are added or removed from an axis, the greateris the impact on the layout and the graphical display of the documentson this axis.

More than one user can manage and share documents on a specific axis ata given time. By “sharing,” on refers to the act of holding the right toassign and/or remove attributes to documents. For example, a first usercan manage one's attributes. However, the association and/ordisassociation of attributes will affect another user. Needless toexplain, the impact of these changes can be significant, especially whenthe other user views on the display area an axis or several axespresenting documents associated with the attributes subjected tosimultaneous changes by another user.

Documents can modify their location on the axes in a precipitous mannerand without prior warning. This increases the likelihood of confusionand frustration caused to the viewer of these axes, both most likelyarising from the potential unintended error(s) one can commit as aresult of these sudden changes on the axes.

It is therefore highly desirable to have a mechanism preventing orreducing confusion and frustration caused by the addition and/or removalof documents from displayed axes.

It is also desirable to orderly present the changes on the axes visibleon the display area, in order to help the viewer understand the changesthat are taken place.

It is yet desirable to display warnings of the changes that areoccurring on the axes as a result of the addition and/or removal of thedocuments and to offer the viewer of the display area choices of actionsmatching one's needs.

It is desirable, also, to inform the viewer of the number and identityof the user(s) who have added and/or removed documents on the displayedaxes.

Moreover, it is also necessary to have a system that would analyze andassess the viewer's behavior in respect to the display area in order todecide the best action(s) to be undertaken in terms of the locationwhere a document or documents may be best added and/or removed on axisshown on the display area so that its/their insertion and/or removalwould cause little or no undesirable effects on the viewer.

It is equally desirable to offer the viewer the proper means to controland manage the number of, and time when, at least modifications todocuments viewable in the display area can take place.

Other deficiencies will become apparent to one skilled in the art towhich the invention pertains in view of the following summary anddetailed description with its appended figures.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the present invention aims to alleviate one or more of theshortcomings of the background art by addressing one or more of theexisting needs in the art.

The following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order toprovide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. Thissummary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is notintended to identify key/critical elements of the invention or todelineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to presentsome concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to themore detailed description that is presented later.

The invention is generally described as a method, a system, a deviceand/or a graphical user interface used to represent multiple computerfiles, documents, or other data on axes in an axis-based graphical userinterface (GUI).

Aspects of our work provide a method and system preventing and reducingviewer's confusion and potential errors the viewer might commit whendocuments are added or removed from displayed axes. The system allowsthe viewer to efficiently navigate the documents on axes present on thedisplay area, or a portion thereof, when additional documents are beingadded and/or removed on the displayed axes simultaneously and/or atlater time. This is made possible by the indications provided by thesystem concerning these modifications and by the means to manage thesemodifications accordingly, in accordance with at least one embodiment.

One aspect of the instant invention provides a method, an apparatus anda graphical user interface adapted to present arrays of documents as asingle axis, row, or column or a plurality thereof, and in which thedistribution of documents is graphically affected by the addition and/orthe removal of other documents therefrom. The respective method,apparatus and graphical user interface allow for a smooth transitionfrom the original graphical layout of documents to the final one, causedby the addition and/or removal of documents therefrom, in accordancewith at least one embodiment.

Another aspect of the invention provides a method and a system intendedfor the user to be warned and, consequently, offered choices of actionin light of the addition and/or removal of documents on the displayedaxes, in accordance with at least one embodiment.

Another aspect of the invention offers a method and a system where thedisplayed longitudinal side of the axis wider to the pointing deviceremains motionless on the screen and the opposite longitudinal side ofthe axis adjusts to make room for the new documents to be displayed orremoved from an axis, in accordance with at least one embodiment.

Another aspect of the invention presents a method, a system and agraphical user interface where the displayed longitudinal side of theaxis in respect with the insertion location remains fixed on the screenwhile its opposite side adjusts to make room for new documents to bedisplayed and/or removed on the axis, in accordance with at least oneembodiment.

The present invention provides a mechanism adapted to prevent a viewerof displayed documents from being confused by the modifications causedto the documents by another user. Given that these modifications are notperformed by the viewer, the latter may find them confusing, especiallywhen documents' presence (and lack thereof) and location on a specificaxis are being subject to constant and impromptu changes, in accordancewith at least one embodiment.

In one aspect of the invention, the user can decide a fixed and/ormaximum space one would allow for supplementary documents to be addedand/or removed from a specific axis shown on the display area, inaccordance with at least one embodiment.

A further aspect of the instant invention provides a functionalityadapted to move and or/remove documents shared by another userimmediately and/or after a predetermined delay, in accordance with atleast one embodiment.

Another aspect of the present invention provides a functionality adaptedto display the added and/or removed documents in an expanded orcontracted manner, and/or or within a fixed set space, dictated or notby the viewer, in accordance with at least one embodiment.

In one other aspect of the instant invention, a mechanism is provided toidentify the documents that have been added and/or removed from aspecific axis as a result of the actions of another user(s), inaccordance with at least one embodiment.

One aspect of the invention provides a method of managing movements ofinformation elements on an array of information elements, the methodcomprising: displaying a plurality of information elements on the arrayof information elements on a basis of a collation function; adding atleast one information element to the plurality of displayed informationelements; identifying a collation position of the at least oneinformation element on the array of information elements; moving atleast some of the displayed plurality of information elements on thearray of information elements in a direction on a basis of a referenceto create a space for displaying the added at least one informationelement on the array of information elements; and displaying the addedat least one information element to the array of information elements atits collection position on the array of information elements, inaccordance with at least one embodiment.

One other aspect of the invention provides a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-readableinstructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer toperform operations for managing documents in relation withrepresentations of objects displayed with a computer, the operationscomprising: displaying a plurality of information elements on the arrayof information elements on a basis of a collation function; adding atleast one information element to the plurality of displayed informationelements; identifying a collation position of the at least oneinformation element on the array of information elements; moving atleast some of the displayed plurality of information elements on thearray of information elements in a direction on a basis of a referenceto create a space for displaying the added at least one informationelement on the array of information elements; and displaying the addedat least one information element to the array of information elements atits collection position on the array of information elements, inaccordance with at least one embodiment.

An aspect of the present invention provides a device, comprising aprocessor configured to present a graphical user interface fordisplaying and managing information elements, the graphical interfacecomprising areas adapted to provides the operations comprising:displaying a plurality of information elements on the array ofinformation elements on a basis of a collation function; adding at leastone information element to the plurality of displayed informationelements; identifying a collation position of the at least oneinformation element on the array of information elements; moving atleast some of the displayed plurality of information elements on thearray of information elements in a direction on a basis of a referenceto create a space for displaying the added at least one informationelement on the array of information elements; and displaying the addedat least one information element to the array of information elements atits collection position on the array of information elements, inaccordance with at least one embodiment.

Each of the embodiments of the present invention has at least one of theabove-mentioned objects and/or aspects, but does not necessarily haveall of them. It should be understood that some aspects of the presentinvention that have resulted from attempting to attain theabove-mentioned objects may not satisfy these objects and/or may satisfyother objects not specifically recited herein.

Additional and/or alternative features, aspects, and advantages ofembodiments of the present invention will become apparent from thefollowing description, the accompanying drawings, and the appendedclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary network;

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of an alternate exemplary network;

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary computer system;

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary software system;

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of an axis-based interface andoperating system;

FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary axis layout;

FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of a linear and non-linear axisconfigurations;

FIG. 8 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary axis layout inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary axis layout inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary axis layout withthree display areas thereon in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 11 is a schematic illustration of a magnified display areapartially showing an exemplary axis layout in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic illustration of a magnified display areapartially showing an exemplary axis layout in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a schematic illustration of a magnified display areapartially showing an exemplary axis layout in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a schematic illustration of a magnified display areapartially showing an exemplary axis layout in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a schematic illustration of a magnified display areapartially showing an exemplary axis layout in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a schematic illustration of a magnified display areapartially showing an exemplary axis layout in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a schematic illustration of a magnified display areapartially showing an exemplary axis layout in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a schematic illustration of a magnified display areapartially showing an exemplary axis layout in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 19 is a schematic illustration of a magnified display areapartially showing an exemplary axis layout in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 20 is a schematic illustration of a magnified display areapartially showing an exemplary axis layout in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 21 is a schematic illustration of a magnified display areapartially showing an exemplary axis layout in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 22 is a schematic illustration of a magnified display areapartially showing an exemplary axis layout in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 23 is a schematic illustration of a magnified display areapartially showing an exemplary axis layout in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 24 is a schematic illustration of a magnified display areapartially showing an exemplary axis layout in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 25 is a schematic illustration of a magnified display areapartially showing an exemplary axis layout in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 26 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary linear axis layoutin accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 27 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary linear axis layoutin accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 28 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary linear axis layoutin accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 29 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary linear axis layoutin accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 30 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary linear axis layoutin accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 31 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary linear axis layoutin accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 32 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary linear axis layoutin accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 33 is a schematic illustration of a group of axes layout inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 34 is a schematic illustration of a group of axes layout inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 35 is a schematic illustration of a group of axes layout inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 36 is a schematic illustration of a group of axes layout inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 37 is a schematic illustration of a group of axes layout inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 38 is a schematic illustration of a group of axes layout inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 39 is a schematic illustration of a group of axes layout inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 40 is an exemplary flowchart of one of the methods based upon whichseveral aspects of the present invention are based.

FIG. 41 is an exemplary flowchart of one of the methods based upon whichseveral aspects of the present invention are based.

FIG. 42 is an exemplary flowchart of one of the methods based upon whichseveral aspects of the present invention are based.

FIG. 43 is an exemplary flowchart of one of the methods based upon whichseveral aspects of the present invention are based.

FIG. 44 is an exemplary flowchart of one of the methods based upon whichseveral aspects of the present invention are based.

FIG. 45 is an exemplary flowchart of one of the methods based upon whichseveral aspects of the present invention are based.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT(S) OF THE INVENTION

Our work is now described with reference to the figures. In thefollowing description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specificdetails are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding ofthe present invention by way of embodiment(s). It may be evident,however, that the present invention may be practiced without thesespecific details. In other instances, when applicable, well-knownstructures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order tofacilitate describing the present invention.

The features provided in this specification mainly but might notexclusively relate to principles of computer software andmachine-readable code/instructions adapted to instruct a computer, manycomputers or other machines adapted to use the instructions to providematerial effects on a display, or other means enabling human-computerinteractions to manage documents, menus, user-selectable elements andother computer files. These code/instructions are preferably stored on amachine-readable medium to be read and acted upon with a computer ormachine having the appropriate code/instructions reading capability.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary network 10 in which a system and amethod, consistent with the present invention, may be implemented. Thenetwork 10 may include multiple client devices 12 connected to multipleservers 14, 16, 18 via a network 20. The network 20 may include a localarea network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a phone network, such asthe Public Switched Phone Network (PSTN), an intranet, the Internet,Wi-Fi, WiMAX or a combination thereof. Two client devices 12 and threeservers 14, 16, 18 have been illustrated as connected to network 20 forsimplicity. In practice, there may be more or less client devices andservers 14, 16, 18. Also, in some instances, a client 12 device mayperform the functions of a server 14, 16, 18 and a server 14, 16, 18 mayperform the functions of a client 12 device.

The client devices 12 may include devices such as mainframes,minicomputers, personal computers, laptops, personal digital assistants,phones, or the like, capable of connecting to the network 20. The clientdevices 12 may transmit data over the network 20 or receive data fromthe network 20 via a wired, wireless, or optical connection.

The servers 14-18 may include one or more types of computer systems,such as a mainframe, minicomputer, or personal computer, capable ofconnecting to the network 20 to enable servers 14-18 to communicate withthe client devices 12. In alternative implementations, the servers 14-18may include mechanisms for directly connecting to one or more clientdevices 12. The servers 14-18 may transmit data over the network 20 orreceive data from the network 20 via a wired, wireless, or opticalconnection.

In an implementation consistent with the present inventionillustratively embodied herein, the servers 14-18 may include a searchengine 22 usable by the client devices 12. The servers 14-18 may storedocuments 200, such as web pages, accessible by the client devices 12.

With reference to FIG. 2, a network 20 includes the content cloud 30, acontent database 32, content devices 34-38, and other devices 40-48. Thenetwork mediator 28 enables network devices 34-48 to communicate witheach other without pre-configuring each device 34-48. The content cloud30 represents a content source such as the Internet, where contentexists at various locations across the globe that could be reachedthrough a wired connection and/or with a wireless connection provided byan antenna 26. The content includes multimedia content such as audio andvideo. The mediator 28 allows the content cloud to provide content todevices 34-48. The database 32 is a storage device 166 that maintainscontent. The database 32 may be a standalone device on an externalcommunication network. The mediator 28 communicates with the database 32to access and retrieve content. The content devices 34-48 includeintelligent devices, such as, for example, personal computers, laptops,cell phones and personal digital assistants. The content devices 34-48are capable or storing content data. The devices 34-48 are intelligentdevices that receive content from other content devices 30-48. However,the devices 34-48 can also operate as servers to distribute content toother client devices if desirable.

The following discussion provides a brief, general description of anexemplary computer apparatus in which at least some aspects of thepresent invention may be implemented. The present invention will bedescribed in the general context of computer-executable instructions,such as program modules 174 being executed by a computerized device.However, methods of the present invention may be affected by otherapparatuses. Program modules may include routines, programs, objects,components, data structures, applets, WEB 2.0® type of evolved networkedcentered applications, etc. that perform a task(s) or implementparticular abstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art willappreciate that at least some aspects of the present invention may beimplemented with other configurations, including hand-held devices,multiprocessor system, microprocessor-based or programmable consumerelectronics, network computers, minicomputers, set top boxes, mainframecomputers, gaming consoles and the like. At least some aspects of thepresent invention may also be carried out in distributed computingenvironments where tasks are performed by remote processing deviceslinked through a communications network as exemplified in FIG. 2. In adistributed computing environment, program modules 174 may be located inlocal and/or remote memory storage devices 166.

With reference to FIG. 3, an exemplary apparatus 100 for implementing atleast some aspects of the present invention includes a general-purposecomputing device in the form of a computer 120 or in the form of acomputerized portable apparatus. The computer 120 may include aprocessing unit 121, a system memory 122, and a system bus 123 thatcouples various system components, including the system memory 122, tothe processing unit 121. The system bus 123 may be any of several typesof bus structures including a memory bus or memory controller, aperipheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of busarchitectures. The system memory may include read only memory (ROM) 124and/or random access memory (RAM) 125. A basic input/output system 126(BIOS), containing basic routines that help to transfer data betweenelements within the computer 120, such as during start-up, may be storedin ROM 124. The computer 120 may also include a hard disk drive 132 forreading from and writing to a hard disk, (not shown), a magnetic diskdrive 133 for reading from or writing to a (e.g., removable) magneticdisk 129, and an optical drive 130 for reading from or writing to aremovable (magneto) optical disk 131 such as a compact disk or other(magneto) optical media. The hard disk drive 132, magnetic disk drive133, and (magneto) optical drive 130 may be coupled with the system bus123 by a hard disk drive interface 132, a magnetic disk drive interface133, and a (magneto) optical drive interface 134, respectively. Thedrives and their associated storage media provide non-volatile (orpersistent) storage of machine-readable instructions, data structures,program modules 174 and other data for the computer 120. Although theexemplary environment described herein employs a hard disk, a removablemagnetic disk 129 and a removable optical disk 131, those skilled in theart will appreciate that other types of storage media, such as magneticcassettes, flash memory cards, digital video disks, Bernoullicartridges, random access memories (RAMs), read only memories (ROM),remote cloud storage and the like, may be used instead of, or inaddition to, the storage devices 166 introduced above.

A number of program modules 174 may be stored on the hard disk 127,magnetic disk 129, (magneto) optical disk 131, ROM 124 or RAM 125, suchas an operating system 135 (for example, WINDOWS® NT® 4.0, sold byMICROSOFT® Corporation of Redmond, Wash.), one or more applicationprograms 136, other program modules 137 (such as ALICE™, which is aresearch system developed by the User Interface Group at Carnegie MellonUniversity available at www.Alice.org, OPENGL® from Silicon GraphicsInc. of Mountain View Calif., or DIRECT 3D® from Microsoft Corp. ofBellevue Wash.), and/or program data 138 for example.

A user may enter commands and data into the computer 120 through inputdevices, such as a keyboard 140, a camera 141 and a pointing devicereferred to as a Mouse 142 Other input devices (not shown) such as amicrophone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, a touchsensitive screen, accelerometers or a motion-sensor detector such asKINECT™ that are adapted to sense movements of the user or movements ofa device, or the like, may also be included. These and other inputdevices are often connected to the processing unit 121 through a serialport interface 146 coupled to the system bus 123. However, input devicesmay be connected by other interfaces, such as a parallel port, a gameport, BLUETOOTH® connection or a universal serial bus (USB). Forexample, since the bandwidth of the camera 141 may be too great for theserial port, the video camera 141 may be coupled with the system bus 123via a video capture card (not shown). The video monitor 147 or othertype of display device referred to as a monitor 147 may also beconnected to the system bus 123 via an interface, such as a videoadapter 148 for example. The video adapter 148 may include a graphicsaccelerator. One or more speakers 162 may be connected to the system bus123 via a sound card 161 (e.g., a wave table synthesizer such as productnumber AWE64 Gold Card from Creative® Labs of Milpitas, Calif.). Inaddition to the monitor 147 and speaker(s) 162, the computer 120 mayinclude other peripheral output devices (not shown), such as a printer,a hi-definition television and a scanner for example. As an alternativeor an addition to the video monitor 147, a stereo video output device,such as a head mounted display or LCD shutter glasses for example, couldbe used.

The computer 120 may operate in a networked environment defining logicalconnections to one or more remote computers 120, such as a remotecomputer 149. The remote computer 149 may be another computer 120, aserver 14-18, a router, a network PC, a peer device or other commonnetwork node, and may include many or all of the elements describedabove relative to the computer 120. The logical connections depicted inFIG. 3 include a local area network (LAN) 151 and a wide area network(WAN) 152, an intranet and the Internet.

When used in a LAN, the computer 120 may be connected to the LAN 151through a network interface adapter (or “NIC”) 153. When used in a WAN,such as the Internet, the computer 120 may include a modem 154 or othermeans for establishing communications over the wide area network 152(e.g. WI-FI™, WINMAX®). The modem 154, which may be internal orexternal, may be connected to the system bus 123 via the serial portinterface 146 or another type of port interface. In a networkedenvironment, at least some of the program modules depicted relative tothe computer 120 may be stored in the remote memory storage device 166.The network connections shown are exemplary and other means ofestablishing a communications link between the computers 120 may beused.

The exemplary network and the exemplary computer system described aboveare adapted to carry on the following embodiments:

A system 170 is depicted in FIG. 4 which may represent thefunctionalities described in the instant application when run on anapparatus 100, for instance a computer 120, such as has been previouslydescribed. The computer 120 may in turn be connected to a server 14-18comprising a set of program modules 174 enabling functions including butnot limited to: computing, document rendering, network communication,application configuration and local database management.

The software system 170 illustratively consists of a collection of atleast twelve modules 174 independent from those of the server 14-18 thattogether carry out the method required for the functionalities to bevisible on a graphical user interface and usable by the user. Asillustrated, additional modules 226 may also be used in conjunction withthe twelve base modules.

A computing module 178 provides a means to circulate data between users,the other modules 174 and the apparatus 100. The computing module 178 isadapted to convert queries 230, which may be system-based or user-based,into graphical rendering in accordance with at least one embodiment ofthe present invention. The other modules 174 are configured to send toand receive data from the computing module and to individually orcollectively interact with other modules 174.

An application configuration module 182 provides software configurationto manage application settings and open connections to other servers14-18. Other modules 174 may use the application configuration module182 to manage their behavior to satisfy user-specific needs.

A data elements management module 186 may be used in conjunction withother modules to manage data elements such as documents 200 contained ina database 32 in response to a query 230. The data elements managementmodule 186 may use any kind of database connection and may use a networkcommunication module 190 in order to access a database 32 through anetwork 28, on a server computer 14-18. The network communication module190 may use several protocols in order to communicate with a servercomputer 14-18, such as IPv4, IPv6, TCP, UDP, ODBC, HTTP, WebDAV, SSH,IMAP and even define its own specific communication protocol. The dataelements management module 186 may also be used in conjunction with anemail connectivity module 194 and network communication module 190 inorder to treat and represent emails in the same way as the data elementsof a database 32. The data elements management module 186 may also beused in conjunction with the permissions module 198 (on the client orserver side) in order to control the user access to elements based bysome sort of sharing rules. The data elements management module 186 mayalso work in conjunction with a caches module 202, providing client-sidecached versions of the database 32 and files in order to respond tofuture requests faster. Modules 174 may be made to communicateinformation in a standardized way by the use of an ApplicationProgramming Interface (API) in order to simplify the data elementsmanagement module's 186 interactions with other modules 174.

The data elements management module 186 may sort through documents 200stored in the database 32 and connected to each other via a variety ofreferencing modes, may apply a filter as specified in a query 230 andmay subsequently direct the filtered documents 200 to other modules 174(this will be shown in FIG. 6). One such module may be an axis-orderingmodule 206 which may distribute documents 200 filtered by the dataelements management module 186 onto an axis-like array 288 or axis 292(illustrated in FIG. 6) according to a collation function that may beuser- or system-specified and analyzed by the computing module 178. Anaxis 292 or axis-like array 288 is an embodiment of graphical renderingof the functionalities described in the present specification on adevice's display 150 that can be embodied as a substantially rectilinearsequence of documents 200 from which a viewer can infer meaning and/orrelationships therebetween. An axial distribution 292 of documents 200is adapted to accommodate and display a single type of documents 200 or,if desirable, more than one type of documents 200, computer files,multimedia contents, user-selectable elements and/or user-selectablemenu elements. Generally, an axis 292 is used to graphically groupinformation elements 200 having a commonality. Other functionalitiesrelated to axes 292 shall be described in greater detail below.

The axis-ordering module 206 may manage the ordering of single documents200 and/or several documents 200 assembled into document sets 220 ontoone or more axes 292. In addition of managing the collation of documents200 onto an axis 292, the axis-ordering module 206 may also manage theorder of the documents 200 contained within secondary documents sets 232(not illustrated). The positioning module 210 manages the positioning ofdocuments 200 within axes 240 based on interactions with other modules174 processing the various elements contained in a query 230. Thepositioning module 210 is adapted to and may interpret data contained indocument sets 228 generated by the data elements management module 186in relationship to the query 230 to identify a location for a givendocument set 228 within the collation of an axis 292. Likewise, avisually distinctive features management module 214 is adapted tointerpret data contained in documents 200 or document sets 228 generatedby the data elements management module 186 in relationship to the query230 to selectively apply one or more visually distinctive features 284(not illustrated in this figure) to single documents 200 or documentsets 228. Finally, a display management module 218 may, inter alia,manage elements related to the user interface 234, possibly interactingwith a graphics card and a monitor 147. The display management module218 may use a document-rendering module 222 that provides instructionsto render specific documents 200, like images, text files,word-processing files, spreadsheet files, presentation files, etc. Thedocument-rendering module 222 may also provide an API to let developersadd their own extensions to deliver to renderers other document types.

FIG. 5 depicts a computer system 120 comprising an operating system 135with an integrated axis-based user interface 238. As illustrated in FIG.5, the axis-based user interface 238 could serve as a desktopenvironment to manipulate documents 200 (such as files, objects andapplications), or could be used as a main operating system 135 userinterface 234. One can appreciate a hierarchical description of acomputer system 120 and software system 170 with multiple components242. First, hardware 246 is used to provide users with a physical device34-48. Second, the axis-based system could be built on top of anexisting operating system core and kernel 250, such as, for instance,UNIX™ or BSD™. A graphics API 254 like OPENGL® could also be used inorder to provide basic graphical capabilities to the system via a videoadapter 148.

Multiple core functionalities could be integrated to provide coreoperating system 135 services. A graphical layer framework component 256could be built over the graphics API component 254, and could be used toprovide complex drawing capabilities. The layer-based graphics layerframework component 256 may also supports widgets rendering and handling(like buttons, text fields, dialogs, etc.) A network managementcomponent 260 could be based on pre-existing network managementcapabilities in the operating system core and kernel 250. It could serveas a tool to manage an Internet network connection through ETHERNET®,BLUETOOTH®, WI-FI™, Modem and other communication channels. A utilitycomponent 264 could handle all the other services needed to communicatewith the operating system core and kernel 250, providing functionalitiessuch as user login, user authentication, memory, disk-access management,etc. Using these modules, the axis-based user interface 238 would usecore functionalities from the graphical layer framework component 256,the network management component 260 and the utility component 264 toprovide workspaces 306 comprising multiple axes 292 or groups of axes310 that display documents 200 (not shown in FIG. 5). The axis-baseduser interface 238 may also provide more integrated actions, likeinterface buttons, preview or magnification that may be directlydocketed. Another component, a system preferences management component268, would provide multiple functions needed by the axis-based userinterface 238, such as dialogs to manage document insertion, attributedefinitions, users, permissions, application configuration, etc.Finally, the operating system 135 may comprise a window managementsystem emulation module 272. This module may be based on an X WINDOWSYSTEM or X11© and may use other existing client application librariesto provide a large number of applications as well as functionalities torun windowed applications on top of the axis-based user interface 238.To provide other functionalities, third-party application providerscould build third-party core modules 276 on top of the axis-based userinterface 238 and system preferences management module 268. Third-partyapplication providers could also develop third-party softwareenvironments 280 and other applications that could be run using thewindow management system emulation 272, providing the user with usefulapplications such as an Internet Browser, Office Business Applications,Multimedia Applications, Games, etc.

The Window Management System Emulation 272 could also offer functions toprovide a more axis-based user interface 238 integration, such as,previews, player and editors for the documents 200 displayed in theaxis-based user interface 238. For example, a rich text document 200could use a third-party module 276 or third-party software environment280 to provide a previewer or media player for the document 200, or athird-party application to integrate a live editor on the axis-baseduser interface 238.

This computer system 120 could be used, for instance, as a businesssolution to provide users with an axis-based user interface 238operating system 135 directly on multiple kinds of devices 34-48(computers, laptop, tablets, cell phones, etc.). The computer system 120may also illustratively be used as a business solution to sellpreconfigured devices 34-48 with the axis-based user interface 284.Since the operating system 135 has a built-in axis-based user interface284, the device 34-48 is likely to have a display 150 and other inputdevice like a keyboard 140, a mouse 142 or a touch-screen interface. Thedevices 34-48 may not necessarily provide such parts and may be adaptedto be used by communicating information about the user interface 240 andinput methods with other devices 34-48 (television set, motion sensinginput device, computer or tablet over network, cell phone, etc.)

FIG. 6 illustrates the interaction of the computer system 120 andsoftware system 170 with an axis-based graphical user interface 238. Aninterface program providing a graphical user interface 234 for managinginformation elements 200 in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention is installed on a machine, e.g. a computer system 120 asillustrated in FIG. 3. The interface 234 can be programmed using variousprogramming languages e.g. C++, Java or other suitable programminglanguages. The programming of these languages is well known in the artand is adapted to be stored on a machine-readable medium and readabletherefrom to provide executable instructions to a hardware system. It isbelieved that a skilled reader in software art is going to recognizethis portion of the system that will, therefore, not be furtherdescribed herein.

The graphical user interface 234 may run through the operating system135 and the hardware 246 of the computer system 120 or, alternatively,through a network-based system e.g. client-server, and/cloud computingsystem as exemplified in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. The interface 234 is adaptedto display and manage information elements 200, generally provided on abasis of a query 230, which may be stored in one or many databases 32(as illustrated in FIG. 6) that might be distributed in a combination oflocations (e.g. multiple databases, web, cloud, etc.). Informationelements 200 may include computer files, pictures, multimedia content,applications (i.e. computer programs), menu elements, sets of iconsand/or other user-selectable elements, all of which shall henceforth beindiscriminately referred to as documents 200 to lighten the textwithout limiting the scope of the present invention.

An axis-based graphical interface 238 is adapted to graphicallystructure documents 200 in arrays 288 that arrange the documents 200 inrows and/or columns in a reasonably regular fashion and to allownavigation thereof by the user further to a query 230. The axis-basedlayout and ordering provide the user with information about the contentof each document 200, its meaning and its relationships to the otherdocuments 200 disposed on the axis 292. Navigation tools are providedwith the axis-based user interface 238 to allow navigation through thedocuments 200 of a single axis 292 and of various axes 292 when aplurality of axes 292 is enabled. The display of documents 200 on anarray 288, or axis 292, therefore allows contextual management ofdocuments 200 as a flow, or an ongoing rational sequence of documents200. An axis-based interface 238 thus helps to intuitively display agroup of documents 200 and facilitate understanding and managing largesequences of documents 200 bearing a relation.

In a simplified exemplary form, an array 288 may be embodied as an axisof documents 292 (herein below referred to as axis 292 to lighten thetext), which groups documents 200 in a single row or column, asillustrated in FIG. 6. An axis 292 can be embodied as a substantiallyrectilinear arrangement of documents 200 adapted to dispose eachdocument 200 on a straight or curved line. The axis 292 can be embodiedas completely straight (rectilinear), slightly curved, substantiallycurved, circular, angled, following a particular shape or have aconsistent shape over which documents 200 are disposed in a reasonablyconsistent fashion. The exact shape of the axis 292 as well as itsdisposition can vary—horizontal, vertical or other—in relation to thedevice's display 150. What matters, inter alia, is that the layoutstructure of an axis 292 provides a sequence of documents 200 from whicha viewer can infer meaning, logical connections, contextual location,and/or relationships.

The axis 292 can be represented as a single axis 292, a double axis 292,or more axes 292. Axes 292 may be independent from one another (usingdistinct scales, or orderings, henceforth referred to as collationfunctions 300) or may form a group of axes 310 by sharing the same scaleor collation function 300. Also, a document 200, attribute 296 or otherproperty of an element contained in an axis 292 can be selected and usedas a logical connector to create an additional axis 292 from an existingaxis 292. This subsidiary axis 294 is meant to be temporary in someembodiments, serving as a way to view a specific set of additionaldocuments 200 or highlight certain documents 200 from the original axis292 without having to alter the entire workspace 306. It may originatefrom the logical connector document 200 or information element 200 andbe disposed in non-parallel fashion thereto. The subsidiary axis's 294position is preferably orthogonal to the original axis 292. However, theangle may vary. Like axes 292, logically connected axes 294 may bescrollable. More such logically connected axes 2924 can subsequently becreated in the same fashion. Navigation among axes 292 and subsidiaryaxes 294 could be called “relational navigation”.

Axes 292 may be disposed horizontally and/or vertically. Groups of axes310 may be presented using one of the layouts or combining both. Theaxes 292 presented in the embodiments below are generally illustrated inthe horizontal layout configuration. However, they could, all or inmajority, be disposed vertically without departing from the scope of thepresent disclosure. Other possible graphical layouts of documents 200might become obvious to a skilled reader in light of the presentapplication and would be considered within the scope of thisapplication.

When only a portion of the axis 292 is visible, a play of zoom, pan andscrolling movements along the axis 292 allows a user to navigate theaxis 292 and change the series of documents 200 that are displayed inthe display area 314 of the display 150. Scrolling movements can beperformed in a variety of ways including but not limited toclick-and-drag, pressing on the keys of a keyboard, gesturing to amotion-sensor or on a touch-screen.

Documents 200 might overlap or decrease in size so as to fit or maximizethe space available in the display area 314. Selected documents 200 onan axis 292 can be magnified to increase the level of detail shown.Similarly, a small display area 314 could display only one document 200out of the entire axis 292. The remaining documents 200 would not beshown in the display area 314 but would yet remain at their respective“virtual” position on the axis 292, ready to be displayed upon scrollingthe axis 292. In other words, if we consider a mobile platform like amobile phone having a small display 150, the small display 150 mightonly allow to efficiently exhibit one document 200 at a time. However,given that the displayed document 200 is part of an axis 292, the otherdocuments 200 on the axis 292 would remain displayable in accordancewith their respective position on the axis 292 when the axis isscrolled, navigated, gestured.

The documents 200 are selected to be disposed on the axis 292 on thebasis of one or more attributes 296, and are ordered thereon accordingto a collation function 300, namely an ordered arrangement made bycomparison, (e.g. a chronological order adapted to use a time scale 318.The attribute(s) and collation function parameters are specified in aquery 230 that may be run by a user or by an automated function of thesystem. Indeed, each axis 292 groups documents 200 in accordance with,for example, a selected tag, category, keyword, document creator, orother attribute 296 that expresses a characterization of one or moredocument(s) 200 and that are configurable to represent intrinsic orextrinsic characteristics. The term “attribute” 296 will generally beused throughout the instant specification to lighten the reading of thetext and will encompass other document properties or means forestablishing commonality or relationships as described above unlessotherwise specified.

Attributes 296 may be user-specified or system-specified. Generally,documents 200 bear a plurality of attributes 296 assigned by one or moreuser(s) (e.g. keyword, subject, project, creator, category, etc.), and aplurality of attributes 296 that are assigned by the system, such as,illustratively, file type, time of creation, number of views, time oflast modification, file size, etc. Given the broad range ofapplicability of the present invention, the attributes 296 that may beassigned by the system and user, as well as the attributes 296 that canbe desirable to use in the management of axes 292 might substantiallyvary from one field or user to another and however remain within thescope of present specification.

The selection of one or more attributes 296 (using Boolean logic forinstance) in a query 230 determines which documents 200 will bedisplayed on the axis 292. If no specific attribute 296 is selected, theaxis 292 will display all documents 200 in a default order, like thedate of creation thereof. Thus, all documents 200 on the same axis 292are normally associated with the selected set or combination ofattributes 296 that are used as parameters for the axis 292. Third-partydata, like publicity or user-targeted information, could also be addedto an axis 292, either arbitrarily or according to user information,filtering and/or existing collation of axes 292 without departing fromthe scope of the present invention.

The documents 200 illustrated in FIG. 6 feature attributes 296individually represented by a capital letter thereon, or none, in whichcase the documents 200 are left blank. Letter attributes 296 are used inthe present application for illustrative purposes only while letterattributes are theoretically possible. More descriptive attributes 296such as those described above are used in embodiments of the presentinvention. As is shown in FIG. 6, any document 200 can simultaneouslyfeature multiple attributes 296, some user-specified and otherssystem-specified. In fact, a preferred embodiment of the inventionassigns a plurality of attributes 296 to every document 200. Otherdocuments 200 illustrated on FIG. 6 are blank, or without any associatedattribute 296, illustrating documents that could theoretically not beassigned any attribute 296, but that could nonetheless be created andfound in a query 230 (e.g. a query 230 that would select all documents200 contained in the database 32).

The query 230 in FIG. 6 here illustratively filters and selectsdocuments 200 from the database 32 based on attribute 296 ‘A’ fordisplay on the axis 292. FIG. 6 further illustrates that the documents200 selected from the database 32 by the query 230 are placed on theaxis 292 in chronological order 318, another parameter that could bespecified in the query 230. Indeed, an axis 292 also generally disposesthe documents 200 resulting from the query 230 in accordance with aspecified order or collation function 300, (e.g. chronological order,alphabetical order, statistical order, increasing file size, etc.). Acollation function 300 might include dividing the axis 292 intosuccessive collation units 304 (e.g. time units 322 in the case of achronological order, which can illustratively be hours, days, months,years, etc.). A collation function 300 would thus dispose each document200 along the axis 292 according to the value of a specified attribute296 in relation to the collation units 304 of the axis 292 and the otherdocuments 200 of the selected document set 228. Among collationfunctions 300, a chronological distribution of documents 200 on a timescale 318 is used in most embodiments of our work because of itsintuitiveness (because any action or event takes place at a specifictime and usually in sequence with other events or actions). While anaxis 292 disposing documents in random fashion is also contemplatedwithin the scope of the present specification, axes 292 disposingdocuments 200 according to a collation function 300 are illustratedembodiments because of the usefulness of ordering documents 200.

An axis 292 or a group of axes 310 may be embodied in a linearconfiguration 326 or a non-linear configuration 330. Both configurationsare illustrated in FIG. 7 in a generic example. As can be appreciatedfrom FIG. 7, a linear configuration 326 displays collation units 304 ofthe same graphical longitudinal size regardless of the number ofdocuments 200 contained in each collation unit 304. The size of thedocuments 200 located within a given collation unit 304 can optionallybe adjusted in accordance with the number of documents 200 locatedtherein. For instance, documents 200 will be larger if there are fewdocuments 200 in the collation unit 304 and smaller if many documents200 are found therein. Alternatively, the documents 200 can remain thesame size and can overlap, or be stacked, when their quantity exceedsthe available space. Another possible way of making large numbers ofdocuments 200 fit into a fixed-size collation unit 304 is to equip thecollation unit 304 with a scroll bar allowing the user to navigate thecollation unit 304 to reveal hidden documents 200. This also means thatdocuments 200 in a linear configuration 326 may be displayed as anuneven sequence from a graphical point of view. Ultimately, a collationunit 304 in a linear configuration containing no document will appear asempty, or as a blank space on the display 150, but will still be thesame size as the other collation units 304 of the axis 292.

Conversely, the non-linear configuration 330 displays collation units304 of uneven longitudinal sizes because an even distribution ofdocuments 200 along the axis 292 prevails over the linearity of thecollation. In other words, document 200 size and a constant flow ofdocuments 200 along the axis 292 are given primacy over having collationunits 304 of equal graphical size. This provides a more efficient use ofthe space on the axes 292, but may provide less meaning to illustrate anevolution along time.

Conversely, the non-linear configuration 330 displays collation units304 of uneven longitudinal sizes because an even distribution ofdocuments 200 along the axis 292 prevails over the linearity of thecollation. In other words, document 200 size and a constant flow ofdocuments 200 along the axis 292 are given primacy over having collationunits 304 of equal graphical size. This provides a more efficient use ofthe space on the axes 292 but may provide less meaning to illustrate anevolution along time.

FIG. 6 presents a graphical user interface 234. More specifically, itillustrates an axis-based user interface 238 with a linear axisconfiguration 326. The linear axis configuration 326 shows an axis-likearray 288. This is an exemplary illustration of how documents 200 can bepresented on a linear axis 292 within and outside of the display area314.

Documents are not the only items one could find on an axis-like array288. Videos, menu options, emails and numerous other types ofinformation elements can also be displayed on an axis-like array 288.However, for the purpose of explaining and describing this invention,the Figures presented herein will only reserve to axes 292 withdocuments 200 only.

In the axis-like array 288, documents 200 are laid out in a linearfashion, based on the framework set out by the collation units 304. By“linear,” we refer to the idea that documents 200 are arranged andextended along a straight horizontal line.

A collation unit 304 collects and combines certain elements on an axis292. In the case of FIG. 7, the collation units 304 gather and combinedocuments 200 in a certain predetermined order.

The collation unit 304 is chronological in nature. That is, documents200 are organized on the axis-like array 288 according to time units 322(t27, t28, t29, t30 and t31) that are equally spaced. The time scale 318specifies the division of time. For example, it can be by hour, day,month, or year.

The collation function 300 makes it possible for time units 322 to alignaccordingly on the axis 292 based on a certain time scale 318. Moreover,these time units 322 are moving progressively to the right. The timeunit markers 334 identify the beginning and end of a time unit 322.

The collation units 304 do not have to be chronological per se. Forexample, they can be alphabetical as well or based on a certain featureor identity set out by the user.

Some collation units 304 contain more documents 200 than other ones.This is because on a linear axis 292, the collation units 304 areequally spaced from each other and, therefore, of the same length. As aresult, it will often be the case that some collation units 304 will beempty and some—full or partially full of documents. FIG. 7 illustratesthis very phenomenon. The time unit t28, for example, contains only onedocument 200. Time unit t29 is full, while time unit t30—empty ofdocuments 200. It is thus safe to assume that not all axes displayingdocuments or any other elements, such the axis of documents 292 depictedin FIG. 7, are comprised of collation units 304 that are equally spaced.

Axes 292 that have non-equally spaced collation units 304 are callednon-linear axes 292. Notably, the variation in length of the collationunits is the one major distinctive feature that sets non-linear axes 292apart from the linear ones 292.

FIG. 8 illustrates a non-linear axis of documents, with non-equallyspaced collation units 304. Just like in FIG. 7, they follow achronological order, set up by the collation function 300. A certaintime scale 318 defines them. Time unit t27 contains 7 documents 200while time unit t28—only 5.

Non-equally spaced collations units 304, presented in FIG. 8, areadapted to present documents 200 to be shown on the axis 292 in aregular, consecutive and chronological manner. There is no space betweenthem, only separators when a time unit 322 change occurs. In thisFigure, these separators are marked as time unit markers 334.

FIG. 8 shows a document 200 with a visually distinctive feature 284.This feature, for example, can be graphically displayed as a change inthe color or the color intensity of the edges of a document, enlargementof the lines defining its frame, etc. Moreover, it seeks to visuallyfilter and identify the documents belonging to an axis of documents 292,sub-selected by the user as a result of a more advanced search carriedout within the axis. For example, all the documents on the axis ofdocuments 292 share one attribute in common. That attribute is depictedin the figure as attribute B, and is marked to the left of the axis ofdocuments 292. The user may carry out a search within the documents 200of the axis 292 to seek for the document(s) that has/have anothersub-attribute assigned to it/them. Document with a visually distinctivefeature 284 would represent the result of the search. It would beconsequently visually highlighted in some sort of way on the axis ofdocuments 292 in order for the viewer to easily differentiate it fromthe rest of the documents 200.

FIG. 9 presents a graphical user interface 234. More specifically, itillustrates an axis-based user interface 238 with a linear axisconfiguration 326 as it can be visible on three distinct display areas314. The simultaneous presentation of three different display areas 314on the same axis 292 is provided for illustrative purposes only despitethe fact that only one display area 314 would suffice and normally beutilized to show a portion of the axis 292. The purpose of displayingthree instead of one display area seeks to schematically demonstrate thevariety of layouts and placements of documents 200 on an axis 292 andthe different ways in which they can be viewed via display areas 314. Bythis, one can see that some display areas may have no documents 200displayed, some—a few and some might present a portion of an axis 292filled completely by documents 200.

The linear axis configuration 326 presented in FIG. 9 is alsoillustrated in FIG. 7. The difference lies in the fact that FIG. 9 showshow the documents 200 exhibited on the linear axis 292 can be viewed ondisplay areas 314. A computer or telephone screen can serve as a displayarea 314. These, however, are mere examples. Possibilities of devicesand apparatuses upon which axes of documents or any kind of elements canbe displayed are numerous.

When examining FIG. 9 from left to right, one notices that the displayarea 314 closest to the left side of the FIG. 9 visually fully displaystwo documents 200 belonging to the time unit 27 and one documentbelonging to the time unit t28. The display area 314 shown in the centerof FIG. 9 shows two documents belonging to the time unit t29, while thedisplay area 314 to the right side of FIG. 9 fails to bring to light anydocuments, as the time unit t30, which is shown on this display area314, contains no documents 200. To summarize, FIG. 9 schematicallypoints out that the portion of a linear axis 292 (or the whole axis292), when visible on a display area 314, may display some or nodocuments; moreover, it may potentially present on the display area 314empty space as well.

FIG. 10 illustrates a non-linear axis of documents 292, with non-equallyspaced collation units 304, as it can be visible on three distinctdisplay areas 314. If examined carefully, one notices that thenon-linear axis 292 presented in FIG. 10 is also illustrated in FIG. 8.The difference lies in the fact that FIG. 10 schematically illustrateshow the documents 200 exhibited on the axis 292 can be viewed on thedisplay areas 314.

Non-linear axes 292, in general, when visible on a display area 314,show documents 200 or any other elements, while failing to reveal anyempty, and therefore, non-occupied by or any other document and/orelement, space. The following examples from FIG. 10 further illustratethis:

The display area 314 to the utmost left side of FIG. 10 presents thedocument with a visually distinctive feature 284. This display area 314shows fully three documents 200 belonging to the time unit t27.Moreover, it partially reveals two other documents 200 belonging to thesame time unit t27.

The display area 314 in the center of FIG. 10 shows fully two documents200, one belonging to the time unit t27 and another—to the time unitt28. Furthermore, this display area 314 shows partially two otherdocuments 200, one belonging to the time unit t27 and the other—to timeunit t28.

Similarly, the display area 314 to the right side of FIG. 10 shows threedocuments 200 belonging to time unit t29. Another partially displayeddocuments 200 belongs to the time unit t28. FIG. 10 seeks to illustratethat a non-linear axis 292 with documents 200, when visible on a displayarea 314, shows documents without revealing any empty space.

FIG. 11 illustrates the insertion of a document 342 on a non-linear axisof documents 200. The insertion takes place outside of the display area314. The display area 314 shows ten documents 200. The eleventh one,located at the utmost right side of the display area 314, is onlypartially shown.

The documents 200 within the display area 314 belong to three differenttime units, one of which is shown fully on the display area 314. Thebeginning and end of this time unit are marked by two time unit markers334. Document 201.1 is the last fully-displayed document 200 shown onthe left side of the display area 314.

Within the time unit fully shown on the display area 314, there are twodocuments with a visually distinctive feature 284, described in greaterlength in the discussion about FIG. 10. The actual visual featureassigned to these documents is different on each of them. This is sothat the viewer can discriminate between the two with little or nodifficulty. FIG. 11, also, shows two more documents with a visuallydistinctive feature 284. Both are located to the outmost left side ofFIG. 11. One of which is the first document 200 displayed on the axis292, as it is located next to the beginning of the axis 336.

Not all the documents 200 present on the axis 292 shown in FIG. 11 aredisplayed in the display area 314. Some of them are outside of theviewing space. One document 200 with a visually displayed feature 284 isshown outside of the display area, on the left side of FIG. 11. Twodocuments 200, along with a portion of a document 200, are displayedoutside the display area 314, on the right side of FIG. 11. FIG. 11shows only the beginning of the axis 292, implying that there aredocuments 200 on the axis 292 beyond the ones displayed in the Figure.

FIG. 11 also illustrates how an inserted document 342 is added to theaxis 292. The insertion arrow 362 points out the exact location wherethis document is inserted—outside the display area 314, and on thebeginning of the axis 292. This insertion location may have been chosenby the collation function 300.

There are two ways documents 342 can be inserted on a document: when itis already existent and is given an attribute based on which the axis292 is defined, by the user; and when is created or imported by a user.Both these actions result in the same effect, namely, in the addition ofa document 200 on an axis 292. In a network collaborative work context,multiple users can simultaneously insert or change attributes ofelements 200 distributed on one or more axes 292.

FIG. 12 illustrates the insertion of a document 342 on a non-linear axis292, outside the display area 314 and a way in which this insertionaffects the way documents 200 within the display area 314 aregraphically laid out. This is likely to be one of default implementationin an axis-based interface 238 since the beginning of the axis 292 wasnot moved.

FIG. 12 depicts the same non-linear axis 292 as the one illustrated inFIG. 11. FIG. 12, moreover, shows how the insertion of the document 342on the axis 292 shifts the location of all the documents 200 of the axis292 to the right. The arrow 366 indicates the direction towards whichthe documents 200 are moved as a result of this insertion.

Due to the insertion of document 342, all the documents 200 within andoutside of the display area 314 shifted to the right in order to makeroom for the newly added document 342. Moreover, the document 200,1 isnow partially located outside the display area 314 in FIG. 12.

FIGS. 13 and 14 illustrate two other possible embodiments of the way adocument 342 can be inserted on a non-linear axis 292, outside thedisplay area 314. In FIG. 13, a document 342, as shown by the insertionarrow 362, is being inserted on the utmost left side of the axis 292,outside of the display area 314. The insertion causes the beginning ofthe axis 336 to move further to the left to make room for the newlyadded document 342, without affecting the display of documents 200within the display area 314.

In FIG. 14, the same document 342 is inserted on the right side of theaxis 292, outside of the display area 314. This insertion causes thedocument 200,2 to move to the right, as arrow 370 indicates it, outsideof the display area 314. FIGS. 13 and 14 demonstrate how the insertionof a document 342 on a non-linear axis 292, outside the display area314, does not necessarily affect the visual display of documents 200within the display area 314.

FIGS. 15 and 16 illustrate two other possible embodiments of the way adocument 346 can be removed from a non-linear axis 292, outside thedisplay area 314.

FIG. 15 illustrates a possible way in which documents 346 may be removedfrom the axis 292, outside of the display area 314. The removal arrows374 point to the possible directions towards which these documents 200may go as a result of their removal. One must be reminded that theremoval of a document 200 from an axis 292, in general, may be caused bythe removal of the attribute that once linked it to an axis 292 and/orby the actual deletion of the document 200 by a user. As the FIG. 15seeks to illustrate, the removal of documents 200 from an axis 292, fromwithin space outside of the display area 314, will not affect thedistribution and layout of these documents 200 on the display area 314.

FIG. 16 illustrates another aspect of the present invention offeringanother option of the way in which documents 346, when removed from thedisplay area 314, may not affect the display and layout of the documentswithin the display area 314. Similarly to FIG. 15, FIG. 16 illustrateshow a document 346 may be removed from the axis 292, from the outsidethe display area 314, without disturbing the layout of the documents 200within the display area 314.

Moreover, FIG. 16 illustrates a possible solution to the problem thatmight arise as a result of the removal of documents 346 from the displayarea 314. The cross signs 378 mark the two documents 346 that have beenremoved from the display area 314. In order to avoid the possiblemovement of the rest of the documents 200 within the display area 314 asa result of their removal, the space that these two documents 346 onceoccupied on the display area 314 remains static and unchanged. The twodocuments 346 that were removed remain listed on the axis 292, withinthe display area 314, and are being marked by the cross sign 378.

The cross sign 378 presented in FIG. 16 is for illustrative purposesonly, and may be substituted by other means seeking to identify thedocuments 346 that were removed from the display area 314, from thosethat were not. FIG. 16, therefore, represents one aspect of theembodiment in which the removal of documents 346 from the display area314 of an axis 292 may not affect the viewer of the display area 314.

FIGS. 17 and 18 illustrate another possible way in which the insertionof a document 342 on an axis 292 may affect the viewer of the displayarea 314 and how this undesirable effect may be alleviated. In thiscase, the undesirable consequence relates more to the viewer's potentialloss of track of a certain document 200 on the display area 314. Theloss might cause frustration and confusion to the viewer. To understandit, one must examine FIGS. 17 and 18 together in order to trace thesuccession of events illustrated herein.

FIG. 17 illustrates an axis 292 with documents 200, placed within thedisplay area 314. A document 342 is being inserted on the axis 292,inside the display area 314, between a document 200.3 and the documentwith a visually distinctive feature 284. The insertion arrow 362pinpoints the exact location where the document 342 is being introduced.

The display area 314, also, exhibits four other noteworthy documents200, three of which are documents with a visually distinctive feature284. The other one, document 200.2, is located to the left of thedocument 200.3.

A pointing device 348, embodied in FIG. 17 as a cursor 350, pointstowards the document 200.2. The cursor 350 may indicate the viewer'sintention to deal with the document 200.2 and, therefore, serves as areference (aka reference point) indicator based upon which the additionand/or removal of documents 200 may take place within and outside of thedisplay area 314.

The reference based upon which the addition and/or removal of documents342, 346 may take place within and outside of the display area 314 maybe embodied, for example, as the position of the cursor 350, as shown inFIG. 17. It may also be embodied as a line defined in relation to theviewer's activity(ies) in relation to the elements of the axis(es)displayed within the display area 314, or as a collation position.Moreover, the reference based upon which the addition and/or removal ofdocuments 200 may take place within and outside of the display area 314may be also identified, for example, via a multi-point sensing device.

The reference may be static or dynamic. The static reference is notsubject to dislocation as a result of the viewer's activity on thedisplay area 314. The static reference may be embodied as a line,displaying vertically the center of the display area 314. For example,it is presented in FIG. 18 as the center of the display area 358. Theline indicating the center of the display area 358 (FIG. 18) is notshown to the user. It may also be embodied as a vertical line located onthe display area 314, as shown in FIG. 19 as the vertical line 354. Thisline as well is not revealed to the user.

The dynamic reference aligns itself to the movement of the pointingdevice 348, which may be embodied, for example, as a cursor 350 or theposition and alignment of the viewer's eyes in relation to the displayarea 314.

The possibilities of the actions one might want to undertake in respectto the document 200.2 are numerous. It may be the case, for example,that the viewer might want to open it, observe its content, read it,and/or send it to someone else as an attachment in an email. However,due to the possible sudden dislocation of the document 200.2, the viewermight unintentionally target another document 200.3 instead of the onethe viewer initially intended to target. In this case, the viewer mightclick, for example, or touch with one's finger(s) a document 200 otherthan the one initially intended to be targeted. This might causefrustration to the viewer, especially when accuracy in one's work anddeadlines to accomplish a certain task may be of great importance to theuser. Undesirable consequences to the viewer as a result of theinsertion of the document 342 are most likely to occur especially whenthe insertion is subject to no order or, in other words, randomlycarried out.

FIG. 18 presents a possible way in which the insertion of documents 342may be carried so that it would alleviate the effect the randominsertion of document 342 might have on the viewer of the display area314. In this Figure, the insertion of document 342 is carried out inrelation to the center line of the display area 358. The center line ofthe display area 358 is the reference based upon which the insertion ofthe document 342 is handled.

More specifically, FIG. 18 illustrates how the insertion of the document342 may be carried out in on half of the display area 314, namely, onthe side where the cursor 350 was initially pointing at document 202.2.This side is determined in reference to the center of the display area358.

As a result of the insertion of the document 342, the cursor 350 is nowpointing towards the document 200.3. This is because the document 342,when inserted on the axis 292, pushed to the left, as indicated by thearrow 366, the documents 200 located on the left side of the spaceoccupied by the document 342. The movement to the left occurred as aresult of the insertion of the document 342 on the axis 292.

FIG. 19 illustrates the preferred embodiment of the present invention inwhich the movement of documents 200 on the axis 292, when a document 342is being inserted on the axis 292, is carried out in reference to thelocation of the viewer's pointing device 348, embodied in this Figure asa cursor 350.

The vertical line 354 indicates the location of the display area 314aimed by the viewer, based on the position of the cursor 350. Theinsertion of the document 342 on the axis 292 is carried out so that thedocuments 200 move in the opposite direction from the vertical line 354;in other words, in the opposite direction from where the aimed document382 is located. The arrow 366 indicates that the documents 200 movetowards the right side of the display area 314 as the aimed document 382is located on the left side of the display area 314.

In FIG. 19, the vertical line 354 is vertical because it isperpendicular to the axis 292. If the axis 292 were to be vertical, theline 354 would be embodied as a horizontal axis defined by the positionof the cursor 350.

Similar to FIG. 19, FIG. 20 illustrates another embodiment of thepresent invention in which the movement of documents 200 on the axis292, as a result of the insertion of the document 342, is based on thelocation of the aimed document 382. The document 382 is the documenttargeted or aimed by the viewer. The insertion of the document 342 iscarried on the basis of the region of the display area 314 towards whichthe viewer is looking. In this Figure, this region is marked by eye viewindicator 386.

The actual position and aim of the viewer's eyes in relation to thedisplay area 314 can be detected, for example, via a web cameraconnected to the display area 314. The web camera could be used in orderto track the viewer's eye movements and/or hand gestures. Even if thepointing device 348 in FIG. 20, embodied as the cursor 350, is locatedon the right side of the display area 314, the movement of documents 200on the axis 292 is carried out, as the arrow 366 indicates it, towardsthe left side of the display area 314, away from the aimed document 386.This is so that the viewer may not be affected by the insertion of thedocument 342, as the viewer's attention is focused on the utmost leftside of the display area 314.

FIGS. 21, 22 and 23 illustrate another aspect of the invention in whichthe insertion of a document 342 on an axis 292 may affect the viewer ofthe display area 314 and how this problem may be alleviated. In thiscase, the undesirable consequence relates more to the viewer's potentialloss of track of a certain document. To understand it, one must examineFIGS. 21, 22 and 23 together in order to trace the succession of eventspresented herein.

FIG. 21 illustrates the viewer's intent to aim and target the document200,4 presented on the display area 314 by using a pointing device 348embodied in as a cursor 350. The successive cursors 350 shown in FIG. 21represent a cursor being moved by the user. Simultaneously to theviewer's attempt to target the document 200,4, a document 342 is beingadded to the axis 292, in near proximity to the aimed document 200.4.

FIG. 22 illustrates a possible outcome of the insertion of the document342 on the axis 292 on the aimed document 200.4. In the case of FIG. 22,this outcome is illustrated as an immediate movement of the aimeddocument 200,4 from within the display area 314 towards left, asindicated by the arrow 366, and into the area of the axis 292 that isnot displayed to the viewer. In this case, using a logical approachsimilar to the one shown in FIG. 19, the left movement of documents 200is chosen because it is in the opposed direction from the location wherethe cursor 350 was initially located. Therefore, it is in the oppositedirection from the center of the display area 358. With the movement ofthe aimed document 200.4 leftwards, the viewer would have now had toattempt to reach the document 200.4 by scrolling for example, activitythat might prove to be dissatisfactory and causing some degree ofinconvenience to the viewer.

FIG. 23 illustrates the preferred embodiment of the present invention,presenting another solution to the problem the viewer might face as aresult of the insertion of documents 342 within the display area 314. Inthis case, the solution provided consists of identifying the side of thedisplay area 314 upon which the viewer focuses most of the attentionbased on the direction and movement of the cursor 350. The solutionprovided in FIG. 23, also, offers to insert documents 200 within theidle side of the display area 314, towards which the viewer does not aimvia its pointing device 348 and/or glance. In FIG. 23, the insertion ofthe document 342 is carried in the idle region 394 of the display area314. This is the region in which the document 200.4 towards which theviewer aims is not located.

The display area 314 is equally divided into two sub-regions: the idleregion 394 and the active region 398. The active region 398 is the spaceof the display area 314 towards which the viewer is aiming in order toreach a certain aimed document 200.4. It is therefore the region of thedisplay area 314 in which most of the movement of the pointing device348 and/or of the aim of the viewer's eyes is/are taking place.Similarly, the idle region 394 is the space of the display area 314towards which the viewer does not aim via its pointing device 348 and/orglance.

Once these two regions are identified and marked through the usage ofthe vertical axis 354 (not shown to the user), the insertion ofdocuments 342 takes place within the idle region 394 and outside thedisplay area 314, where the addition of an extra document 342 would notcause the displacement of any documents 200 within the active region398.

The non-insertion arrow 402 indicates that the insertion of document 342within the active region 398 does not occur. That is because the viewer,by moving the pointing device 348 embodied in this Figure by the cursor350, would cause the system to pause and assess the direction of themovement of the cursor 350. Once it would stop at a specific aimeddocument 200.4, the system would identify the region of the display area314 upon which the trajectory of the movement of the cursor 250 wastraced. This region is the active region 398 of the display area 314.FIG. 23, therefore, embodies another solution to the unintended and/orundesirable consequences of the insertion of a document 342 on an axis292 within the display area 314.

FIG. 24 embodies yet another solution to the unintended and/orundesirable consequences of the insertion and/or removal of a document342, 346 within the display area 314. The solution consists in notifyingthe viewer of the display area 314 of any changes that might occur tothe documents 200 on the axis 292 without adding or removing any of themuntil a later time, following the instructions set up by the viewer.

FIG. 24 presents the same axis 292 illustrated in the previous FIG. 23,upon which the same display area 314 is superimposed to bring to theviewer's attention to a series of documents 200 which were describedabove at a greater length. Above the axis 292, one notices the displayarea notifications feature 406. These notifications concern the changestaken place while the axis 292 is displayed on the display area 314.These changes, however, do not lead to the visual displacement ofdocuments 200 within and outside of the display area 314 until a latertime, chosen by the viewer.

The actual presentation of the display area notifications feature 406may vary. The wording and content of the notifications may differ aswell. One example would be that it could provide the followinginformation to the viewer: three documents 200 have been added to theaxis; one of the documents 342 is to be inserted within the display area314; one document 200 from the display area 314 has been removed. Thesenotifications may, also, indicate the identity of the user(s) who addedand/or removed documents 342, 346. Moreover, these notifications mayoffer the time when these documents 342, 346 may be added and/or removedfrom the axis 292 in light of the preferences and selection of theviewer. Documents 342 outside of the display area 314 may be added orremoved at in real and/or at a later time, in dependence of the viewer'spreferences and choices.

The user may also have the choice to decide when the addition and/orremoval of the document 342, 346 may occur. The display areanotification feature 406 may offer the addition and/or removal of thedocuments 342, 346 to be carried out automatically on a specific and/orperiodical time. It may also offer to add and/or remove the documents342, 346 when the user removes and reopens the axis 292.

Similar to FIG. 24, FIG. 25 embodies another solution to the unintendedand/or undesirable consequences of the insertion of a document 342within the display area 314, on the viewer of the display area 314. Thesolution consists in offering the viewer the option to pause for acertain time the removal and/or addition of any documents 342, 346 on anaxis 292 of documents 200 and allow the viewer to activate the actualupdate of the axis 292 at a time determined by the viewer, when anymodifications to the axis 292, within and outside of the display area314, are deemed to have less or no impact on the viewer.

FIG. 25 seeks to illustrate, through the non-insertion arrows 402, thatnone of the insertions of the documents 342 are allowed to take placewithin and outside of the axis 292. This is because these modificationsare not permitted to take place until the viewer activates thepause/activate feature 410. This feature inhibits any modifications ofthe documents 200 on the axis 292 to take place until the viewer allowsthem to happen.

In FIG. 25, this permission is expressed by the viewer's activation ofthe pause/activate feature 410. The activation may be visually presentedby a change of color, for example, from the paused state. The viewermay, later, pause any further addition and/or removal of documents 342,346 on the axis 292 by pausing the pause/activate feature 410. Thepausing may be visually presented, for example, by a change of colorfrom the one depicting activated state of the pause/activate feature410.

FIGS. 26, 27 and 28 illustrate three respective possible embodiments ofa linear axis 292 as it may be partially viewed via a display area 314.These Figures illustrate possible distributions of documents 200 on alinear axis 292, on which some collation units 304, in this case, timeunits 322, may be partially, semi and/or completely filled withdocuments 200. Moreover, they illustrate how the addition and/or removalof documents 342, 346 from within these time units 322 may take place inlight of the fact that some of these time units 322 are only partiallyor fully empty of documents 200.

FIG. 26 illustrates how an axis 292 may be partially viewed on a displayarea 314. The portion of the axis 292 displayed via the display area 314is, however, filled to the maximum with documents 200. The insertionand/or removal of documents 342, 346, however, may take placenonetheless. In this Figure, the insertion arrows 362 identify potentialspaces on the axis 292, outside of the display area 314, where documents342 may be added. Moreover, FIG. 26 illustrates that document 346 may bealso removed. In this case, the document 346 is being removed from timeunit t31. The removal arrow 374 indicates the removal of the document346. With this scenario, the viewer of the display area 314 will not besubject to undesirable modifications of the layout of the documents 200displayed within the display area 314. The removal and insertion ofdocuments 200 take place without modifying the display of documents 200within the display area 314.

FIG. 27 illustrates how an axis 292 may be partially viewed on a displayarea 314. Roughly half of the area of the axis 292 displayed via thedisplay area 314 is filled with documents 200. The insertion arrow 362indicates that documents 200 may be added in the empty space visible viathe display area 314. With this scenario, as well, the viewer of thedisplay area 314 will not be subject to undesirable modifications of thelayout of the documents 200 displayed within the display area 314. Evenif two more documents 200 were to be inserted inside the display area314, within the time unit t28, as FIG. 28 illustrates it, this would notcause the documents 200 within the time unit t29 to dislocate.

FIGS. 29 and 30 illustrate another embodiment of the present inventionin which the insertion of the document 342 within the display area 314leads to the movement of another document 200.5 from within the displayarea 314 outwards into the non-displayed area. This phenomenon occurs inthe case where the collation unit 314 partially revealed within thedisplay area has some empty space which makes possible the insertion ofother documents 200.

In FIG. 28, document 342 is being inserted between two documents 200revealed within the display area 314. These two documents are document200 and 200.5. Moreover, document 342 is being inserted in the time unitt28 and before the document 200.5. In the case illustrated in FIG. 28,the location where the document 342 is inserted is identified based onthe fact that the time and/or date the document 342 was produced wasprior to the time and/or date when the document 200.5 was created. Giventhat the time units t27, t28, t29, t30 and t31 present documents 200 ina chronological order, progressively and consistently moving from leftto right, the documents 342 inserted within the axis 292, within andoutside the display area 314, would follow this chronological order aswell. FIG. 29 illustrates the displacement of the document 200.5 towardsthe right side of the axis 292, from within towards the outside of thedisplay area 314.

FIGS. 31 and 32 illustrate another embodiment of the present inventionin which the insertion of the document 342 on the linear axis 292,within the time unit t27, leads to the rest of the documents 200 withinthe time unit t27 to be compressed in order to make room for the newlyadded document 342.

Despite the insertion of an additional document 342 within the time unitt27, the time unit t27 itself does not change in length. This is becausethe rest of the documents 200 within the time unit t27 reduced in sizeto accommodate the addition of the document 342.

In FIG. 31, the document 342 is being inserted at the utmost left sideof the time unit t27. The insertion, as the arrow 366 indicates it,leads to the displacement of the rest of the documents 200 to the leftof the time unit t27. FIG. 32 illustrates how the documents 200initially present within the time unit t27 reduce in size so thatdespite the addition of a new document 342, the respective time unit t27is subject to no modification in terms of its length and width.

FIGS. 33, 34 and 35 illustrate yet another embodiment of the presentinvention. More specifically, they present the insertion of the document342 within an axis 292 A, presented within the display area 314, whenthe axis 292 is part of a group of axes 310. The insertion of thedocument 342 leads to the enlargement of the time unit t27 to fit thenew document addition.

FIG. 33 depicts a group of axes 310 and a display area 314 whichexhibits portions of the following three axes 292: A, B and C. A, B andC refer to the respective attributes given to the documents 200 thatbelong to these three axes 292. There are in total 8 axes 292 presentedin this group of axes 310. Some of them, namely axes 292 D, E, F, G andH, are not displayed at all on the display area 314.

In our preferred embodiment, no two axes 292 can be displayed on thesame vertical line. Stated differently, any two axes 292, presented in agroup of axes 310 will never be vertically placed in a tangentialfashion. The end of an axis 338 may not lie next to the beginning orstart of another axis 292. Given that, it is often the case that theremight be non-occupied (by any document 200) space between two axes 292.In the case of the FIG. 33, this space is caused by the fact that thereare no documents 200 with the attributes E and F that would be fittedfor the time units t27 and t28 respectively.

Empty space, non-occupied by documents 200 within an axis 292 isdifferent from the empty space between two axes 292. Axes 292 B, C, D, Gand F, for example, all have empty spaces where documents 200 may bepotentially added in the future. Whereas there might a possibility foran addition of a or several other document(s) 342 to be added on axis292 B, C and D for example, within the space presently non-occupied bydocuments 200, there is no possibility for this to materialize in caseof the empty space highlighted as grey shaded area next to the left andrespective right the end of the axes 338 presented in the FIG. 33.

FIG. 33, furthermore, illustrates the insertion of the document 342within the axis 292 A to the right of the document 200.1 present on theaxis 292 A. Furthermore, FIG. 34 illustrates the outcome of thisinsertion, embodied in the movement outward of the display area 314 ofthe document 200.1, to the left of the axis 292.

The displacement of the document 200.1 from within towards outside ofthe display area 314 may cause undesirable consequences on the viewer ofthe display area 314, especially when the document 200.1 is the documentthe viewer aims to reach. Moreover, the insertion of the document 342 onthe axis 292 A causes the time unit t27 to become larger than it wasinitially, so that it would accommodate the new document 342 insertion.

In FIG. 34, as a result of the insertion of the document 342, document200.1 moved to the left of the axis 292 A, outside of the display area314. Furthermore, one less document 200 is displayed on the axis 292 C.Whereas there were three documents 200 initially displayed on the axis292 C within the display area 314 (see FIG. 33), due to the enlargementof the time unit t27 one of the documents 200 from the axis 292 C hasmoved leftwards, from within towards outside of the display area 314.This change of document display within the display area 314 may causeundesirable consequences on the viewer.

FIG. 35 illustrates a possible solution to prevent these potentialundesirable consequences on the viewer by bringing an additional space450 on the axis 292 C within the display area 314. The additional 450would therefore bring the initial display of documents 200 on the axis292 C, as presented in FIG. 33, despite the enlargement of the time unitt27. This additional space 450 may be temporarily placed in therespective place on the axis 292 C. It may also correct itselfautomatically when the user carries out additional actions intended tomove the display area 314 elsewhere. In this manner, the viewer would beless likely to experience any undesirable consequences due to theinsertion of the document 342 on the axis 292 A, within the display area314.

FIG. 36 is another embodiment of the present invention, in which theinsertion of the document 342 within the display area 314 may not causethe enlargement of the time unit t27 in which the document 342 isinserted.

In FIG. 36, the insertion of the document 342 takes place on the axis292 B, which portion that is displayed on the display area 314 revealsrelatively more empty space (i.e. more room for documents 200 to beadded into) than the axes 292 A and C do. In light of this circumstance,the insertion of the document 342 within the display area 314 leads notto the enlargement of the time unit t27 to which the newly inserteddocument 342 belongs. As a result of the insertion, the respectivedocument moves leftwards on the axis 292 B, and outside of the displayarea 314.

As illustrated in FIG. 36, the insertion of a document 342 could takeadvantage of the empty space on the axis 292 B to show itself in thedisplay area 314 before heading towards document-sized empty space. Thismovement may be animated. This may happen after a certain amount of timeor after the user takes action to move the display area 314 to displayother regions of the same axes 292 or other ones.

FIG. 37 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention, inwhich a group of axes 310 is partially shown on the display area 314.More specifically, it provides another possible solution for handlingthe addition of numerous documents 342 within the display area 314.

A series of documents 342, which have been added simultaneously or at acertain time distance from each other an axis 292, are partiallydisplayed on the display area 314. They are located within the receivingspace 434.

The addition of the documents 342 may cause the sudden enlargement ofthe time unit t27 to which they belong, and which is partially presentedon the display area 314. In the case of the FIG. 37, the solution givenin order to avoid the enlargement of the respective time unit t27 is toincorporate the respective documents 342 within a receiving space 434which has a scrolling device 418 confined on both of its sides byscrolling arrows 414. In this manner, the viewer of the display area 314may explore the added documents 342 within the scrolling device 418 alater time without changing the size of the time unit t27 and of thelayout of documents 342 within the display area 314.

FIG. 38 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention in whicha group of axes 310 are partially shown on the display area 314. Morespecifically, FIG. 38 provides another possible solution for handlingthe addition of numerous documents 342 within the display area 314.

A series of documents 342 are being added simultaneously or at a certaintime distance from each other, on axis 292 D, which is partiallydisplayed on the display area 314. The addition of the documents 342 maycause the sudden enlargement of the time unit t27 partially presented onthe display area 314. In the case of the FIG. 38, the solution given inorder to avoid the enlargement of the respective time unit t27 is toincorporate the respective documents 342 within an elements managementdevice 422. In FIG. 38, this elements management device 422 hasscrolling properties 442.

The elements management device 422, as FIG. 38 illustrates it, mayindicate the maximum number of documents 342 to be displayed on thedisplay area 314 from all the documents 342 that were added to the axis292 D. The display potential 438 indicates that the elements managementdevice 422 may display up to 5 of such documents 342. Moreover, theelements management device 422 may have an on and off button 426 whichthe viewer may use to indicate if the newly added documents 200 may bedisplayed or not on the axis 292 D, within the display area 314. Thisembodiment, as well, illustrates another potential solution to theundesirable consequences that might arise as a result of the insertionof documents 342 within the display area 314, on the viewer of thedisplay area 314.

FIG. 39 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention in whicha group of axes 310 are partially shown on the display area 314. Morespecifically, FIG. 39 provides another possible solution for handlingthe addition and/or removal of numerous documents 200 within the displayarea 314

In FIG. 39, a series of documents 342 are being added simultaneously ata certain time distance from each other, on axis 292 D. Axis 292 D ispartially shown on the display area 314. In order to avoid the suddenenlargement of the time unit t27 partially presented on the display area314 as a result of the abrupt and rapid addition of documents 342 on theaxis 292 D, the documents 342 that were inserted and/removed on the axis292 D are compressed into a group of documents 430.

The group of documents 430 may indicate the number of documents 342added to the axis 292 D. In the case of the FIG. 39, this number is 9,as indicated by the counting element 446. The group of documents 430intends to avoid the enlargement of the time unit t27 as a result of theaddition of the extra documents 200 on the axis 292 D, change that maycause unwanted consequences on the viewer of the display area 314.

The viewer of the display area 314 may explore the added documents 342within the group of documents 430 a later time with or without changingthe size of the time unit t27 and of the layout of the documents 200within the display area 314.

FIG. 40 presents a flowchart illustrating in an exemplary manner themethod upon which one or more aspects of the present invention arebased, namely—the addition of an information element 342 on an axis 292of information elements 200. The method consists of the following steps:displaying the information elements 200 with a commonality on an axis292 of information elements 200; adding of at least one additionalinformation element 342 to the respective axis 292; identifying theinsertion location; and moving the information elements 200 on the axis292 in function of the insertion parameter to display the additionalinformation element 342 on the axis 292.

Similar to FIG. 40, FIG. 41 presents another flowchart illustrating inan exemplary manner the method upon which one or more aspects of thepresent invention are based, namely—the addition of an informationelement 342 on a group of axes 310 of information elements 200. Themethod consists of the following steps: displaying information elements200 sharing a first commonality on an axis 292 of information elements200; displaying information elements 200 sharing a second commonality ona second axis 292 of information elements 200; grouping the first andthe second axis 292 of information elements 200; adding at least anadditional information element 342 to be presented on one of the axes292 of information elements 200; and moving information elements 200 onthe axis and adjusting a time unit 322 of the group of axes 310 todisplay 314 the additional information element 200 on the axis 292.

FIG. 42 presents another flowchart illustrating in an exemplary mannerthe method upon which one or more aspects of the present invention arebased, namely—the addition and display of a plurality of informationelements 292 on the display area 314 in a predetermined manner. Theflowchart consists of the following steps: displaying informationelements 200 sharing a commonality on an axis 292 of informationelements; adding a plurality of additional information elements 200 tobe presented on the axis 292; identifying a display parameter; andmoving information elements 200 on the axis 292 in function of thedisplay parameter to display a predetermined number of the plurality ofadditional information elements 342 on the axis 292.

FIG. 43 presents another flowchart illustration in an exemplary fashionthe method upon which one or more aspects of the present invention arebased, namely—the viewer's receipt of notification and option to actbased on the addition of at least one information element 342 on theaxis 292 displayed on the display area 314. The flowchart consists ofthe following: displaying information elements 200 sharing a firstcommonality on a first axis 292 of information elements 200 for a firstuser; sharing an access right of the first commonality with a seconduser; adding at least one additional information element 342 with theshared first commonality by the second user; warning the first user thatthe at least one additional information element 342 is going to bedisplayed on the displayed first axis 292 of information elements; andselecting a display option to define how the at least one additionalinformation element 342 may be displayed by the first user on the axis292 of information elements that was displayed first.

FIGS. 44-45 represent the flowchart method presenting several of theembodiments of the present invention. The flowchart starts at FIG. 44and consists of three steps.

Steps 1, which starts at block 458, consists of searching for events inrespect to the adding and/or removal of documents 342, 346 taking placeon the axis 292. If such events do occur, the system shows the displayarea notification feature 406, listing the information pertaining to thenewly added and/or removed documents 342, 346.

The second step, which starts at block 462, consists of identifying ifthere are any insertions of documents 342 taking place on the axis 292.If the cursor 350 is moving, the system identifies the active region348, towards which the cursor 350 is moving. Then, if the inserteddocument 342 is in the active region 398, the insertion does not takeplace. However, if the respective document 342 is at the left of theactive region 398, the system pushes the documents 200 before theinserted document 342, to the left. After pushing the documents 200 tothe left or to the right of the axis 292, the document 342 is insertedon the axis 292.

If the cursor 350 is not moving, if the inserted document 342 is at theleft of the cursor 350, the system pushes the documents 200 before theinserted document 342, to the left of the axis 292. If the inserteddocument 342 is at the right of the cursor 350, the system pushes thedocuments 200 after the inserted document 342, to the right of the axis292. The document 342 is consequently inserted on the axis 292.

Once the document 342 is inserted on the axis 292, the system identifiesif the inserted documents 342 was placed on a linear or non-linear axis292. If it is a linear axis 292, the system verifies if there issufficient space to accommodate the insertion of the document 342. Ifthis is not the case, the system compacts the inserted documents 342within a time unit 322.

If the inserted document 342 was not placed on a linear axis 292, andwas placed within a group of axes 310, the system checks if the timeunit 322 has become larger as a result of the insertion of the document342. If this were the case, the system checks if there are documents 200visible on the other axes 292 of the group 310. If all these conditionshold true, the system adds temporary additional space 450 outside thedisplay area 314 in order to keep the documents 200 within the displayarea 314.

Step 3 identifies if there are any documents 346 to be removed from anaxis 292. If this were to be the case, the system identifies if therespective documents 346 are shown on the display area 314. If thedocument 346 is displayed on the display 314, the system adds a crosssign 378 to identify the removed document 346 from the rest of thedocuments 200 displayed on the display area 314. The document 346 isremoved from the number of documents 200 displayed on the display area314 the user may have selected. The system also disables the selectionfeatures on the document 346.

If the document 346 is not within the display area 314, it is removedfrom the axis 292. If the removed document 346 is at the left of thedisplay area 314, the system pushes the documents 200 before the removeddocument 346, to the right. If this is not the case, the system pushesthe documents 200 before the removed document 346, to the left.

The description and the drawings that are presented above are meant tobe illustrative of the present invention. They are not meant to belimiting of the scope of the present invention. Modifications to theembodiments described may be made without departing from the presentinvention, the scope of which is defined by the following claims:

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of limiting a number of displayeduser-selectable elements that are moved along an axis thereof, themethod comprising: displaying a plurality of user-selectable elementsalong the axis of user-selectable elements, the user-selectable elementsbeing displayed in a rectilinear arrangement on a display area; andadding and displaying a new user-selectable element in a position amongthe displayed user-selectable elements of the axis including determiningin which direction the displayed user-selectable elements are going toscroll along the axis in order to allow the addition and display of thenew user-selectable element on the axis by comparing a number ofuser-selectable elements displayed in a direction preceding the positionof the new user-selectable element and a number of user-selectableelements displayed in a direction following the position of the newuser-selectable element and, based thereon, selecting the directionhaving a minimum number of displayed user-selectable elements to bedisplaced, with the displayed user selectable elements in thenon-selected direction remaining in place, as a result of the adding anddisplaying of the new user-selectable element on the axis.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein the position is selected on a basis of a collationfunction.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the collation function is achronological order.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein user-selectableelements are documents.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprisingremoving a displayed particular user-selectable element from the axisand determining in which direction the displayed user-selectableelements are going to scroll along the axis following the removal bycomparing a number of user-selectable elements displayed in a directionpreceding a position of the displayed particular user-selectable elementand a number of user-selectable elements displayed in a directionfollowing the position of the displayed particular user-selectableelement and, based thereon, selecting the direction having a minimumnumber of displayed user-selectable elements to be displaced as a resultof the removal.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the displacement ofthe user-selectable element occurs after a delay.
 7. The method of claim1, wherein the displacement of the user-selectable element occurs aftera movement of a pointing device on the display area.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising displaying a notification before scrollingthe user-selectable elements along the axis.
 9. The method of claim 1,wherein adding a new user-selectable element is performed by a user. 10.A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereoncomputer-readable instructions that, when executed by a computer, causethe computer to perform operations for limiting a number of displayeduser-selectable elements that are moved along an axis thereof, theoperations comprising: displaying a plurality of user-selectableelements along the axis of user-selectable elements, the user-selectableelements being displayed in a rectilinear arrangement on a display area;and adding and displaying a new user-selectable element in a positionamong the displayed user-selectable elements of the axis includingdetermining in which direction the displayed user-selectable elementsare going to scroll along the axis in order to allow the addition anddisplay of the new user-selectable element on the axis by comparing anumber of user-selectable elements displayed in a direction precedingthe position of the new user-selectable element and a number ofuser-selectable elements displayed in a direction following the positionof the new user-selectable element and, based thereon, selecting thedirection having a minimum number of displayed user-selectable elementsto be displaced, with the displayed user selectable elements in thenon-selected direction remaining in place, as a result of the adding anddisplaying of the new user-selectable element on the axis.
 11. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein theposition is selected on a basis of a collation function.
 12. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein thecollation function is a chronological order.
 13. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein user-selectable elementsare documents.
 14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim10, further comprising removing a displayed particular user-selectableelement from the axis and determining in which direction the displayeduser-selectable elements are going to scroll along the axis followingthe removal by comparing a number of user-selectable elements displayedin a direction preceding a position of the displayed particularuser-selectable element and a number of user-selectable elementsdisplayed in a direction following the position of the displayedparticular user-selectable element and, based thereon, selecting thedirection having a minimum number of displayed user-selectable elementsto be displaced as a result f the removal.
 15. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the displacement of theuser-selectable element occurs after a delay.
 16. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the displacement of theuser-selectable element occurs after a movement of a pointing device onthe display area.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 10, further comprising displaying a notification before scrollingthe user-selectable elements along the axis.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein adding a newuser-selectable element is performed by a user.
 19. A system capable ofuser-selectable elements, comprising: a control which acquires aninstruction for displaying of user-selectable elements via a usermanipulation; a non-transitory storage device which stores data for aplurality of user-selectable elements; and a display output module whichoutputs image of user-selectable elements in response to the instructionacquired by the control; and a display which generates a plurality ofuser-selectable elements along an axis of user-selectable elements on adisplay area, the user-selectable elements being displayed in arectilinear arrangement, the instructions comprising adding anddisplaying a new user-selectable element in a position among thedisplayed user-selectable elements of the axis, including determining inwhich direction the displayed user-selectable elements are going toscroll along the axis in order to allow the addition and display of thenew user-selectable element on the axis by comparing a number ofuser-selectable elements displayed in a direction preceding the positionof the new user-selectable element and a number of user-selectableelements displayed in a direction following the position of the newuser-selectable selectable element and, based thereon, selecting thedirection having a minimum number of displayed user-selectable elementsto be displaced, with the displayed user selectable elements in thenon-selected direction remaining in place, as a result of the adding anddisplaying of the new user-selectable element on the axis.
 20. Thesystem of claim 19, wherein the position is selected on a basis of acollation function.